Exploring the Future of Technology

Robots, holograms and drones converged on Sydney’s Darling Harbour last weekend as part of eBay’s Innovation Lab.

Robots, holograms and drones converged on Sydney’s Darling Harbour last weekend as part of eBay’s Innovation Lab.

Over 3,000 members of the Australian public stopped by and took advantage of the opportunity to interact with these emerging technologies - some waiting up to 90 minutes for their turn to participate - while data teams monitored their responses.

In the lab, participants’ reactions to holograms, robots, virtual reality, 360 videos and 3D printing were tracked using gaze monitoring, dwell time and mobile questionnaires. The results will help predict which innovations will shape our lives in 2016 and beyond.

Futurist Chris Riddell was on hand to guide the public through the technologies, and he even offered a Periscope tour for people who couldn’t make it. Chris will work with eBay to analyze the data collected through the Lab, and our predictions will be published later this month.

“eBay turned 20 this year, and we know better than most how quickly the pace of change and innovation is increasing,” said Steve Brennen, eBay senior director of marketing and retail innovation.

The Innovation Lab in numbers:

2 – the number of days the Innovation Lab ran for

3000 – the number of Sydneysiders who stopped by

500 – the number of participants whose responses were tracked

10 – the number of technologies showcased

15 – the number of retailers hosted at the Lab

500 – the number of photos captured at the event by a GIF generator

83 – the number of stories about the Lab that appeared in media

1,692,687 – the estimated number of Australians who heard about the Lab through media coverage